The final 2015 State House Event took place yesterday. Now that all of the numbers are in, take a look at (and share!) this year’s highlight reel & recap:Together, we planned and hosted 32 State House Events in capitol buildings across the U.S., up from last year’s 12 State House Events

Nearly 1,500 people and 189 state legislators & staff attended the State House Events, which featured participation from 83 organizations, 85 patient & caregiver speakers, 35 state legislative speakers, and 39 medical professional & industry speakers

More than 800 partners joined the movement by signing on to the U.S. Rare Disease Day website & combined forces with advocates in 80+ countriesaround the world

By working with Rare Disease Day founder, EURORDIS, our efforts helped to make this a truly global event with hundreds of patient organizations &thousands of events on every continent. Several new countries, including Bolivia, Estonia and Madagascar, participated in Rare Disease Day for the first time

With all of our efforts, Rare Disease Day continues to grow! Thank you to everyone who planned and attended events, joined the social media campaign, changed their profile photos, shared infographics, and got involved. As the official U.S. sponsor of Rare Disease Day, NORD thanks everyone who came together to support this truly community and group effort. Together, we are strong!

Rare Disease Day is here! Celebrated on the last day of February–the rarest day on the calendar–this is the one day every year when the world comes together to improve the lives of people living with rare diseases.

NORD is proud to work with our partners as the official sponsor of Rare Disease Day in the U.S. Here are a few ways you can get involved to help make this the most impactful Rare Disease Day yet.

Social media awareness - Together we can grow awareness. Change your profile picture to the ”I SUPPORT Rare Disease Day” badge (pictured) and encourage others to do the same. Share photos, updates and videos using the hashtags #RDD2015, #RareDiseaseDay and #1in10. You can find us on Twitter @RareDayUS, Facebook /RareDiseaseDay.US and instagram @rarediseasedayUS. Tag us in your photos so we can find you, retweet, and help you spread the word. read more >

Sophia Walker, a medical student and NORD volunteer, has written an op-ed piece on “The Importance of Rare Disease Education” that was published this afternoon on Medscape and is being promoted specifically to medical students.

The article is one of several currently being developed by NORD staff in collaboration with Medscape as part of NORD’s expanded outreach to medical professionals to promote earlier diagnosis and optimal treatment for patients.

A student at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Sophia became interested in rare diseases while in high school after hearing a NORD staff member speak.

On a related note, NORD representatives — and several rare disease patients — will participat in the American Medical Student Association annual convention this week in Arlington, Virginia. NORD will host a “Meet the Patients” event in its booth at the convention.

The National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD)®, a leading independent, non-profit organization committed to theidentification, treatment, and cure of rare disorders and official U.S. sponsor of Rare Disease Day® on February 28, announces a new social media campaign, #1in10, to raise awareness for the 1 in 10 Americans living with a rare disease.

“It’s astounding that there are just as many Americans living with a rare disease as there are people who are left-handed,” said Lisa Phelps, director of marketing and community relations at NORD. “We are launching this campaign for everyone who has a rare disease, their families, caregivers, nurses and doctors to help raise important awareness for this major public health issue and the need for safe, new treatments.”